Saturday, August 10, 2019

Day 15 - And then there were two

Fletchers Campsite. 
River Mile - 973
Today’s distance - 28.4 miles
Total distance - 369.3 miles

The big news for today is that Bill has decided to take a zero day to get some gear shipped home as well as find a place to fix his Go Pro camera. He will be in good hands staying the night with River Angels Vicky and Jon. They were also available to take Jon and I from the hotel back to our put in point at Kiwanis Park.

Just as we were loading our boats, and truck pulled up with two kayakers that where planning a 25 mile paddle along the same section we where planning on doing 29 miles. We had a nice conversation with them, talking about paddling the river and the experiences we’ve had so far. 

I had a nice long conversation with Christina this morning. It was nice to just talk like we would at the house over breakfast and coffee. Also at a chance to connect with my sister Julie.

For some reason today the time went really fast. We did our 29 miles at an average of 4 mph like usual, but there were not many stretches were it felt like work. I caught up to Jon around 11:00 am and we paddled together the rest of the day. This always helps the time pass quickly.
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1-GUm2WiCasJ7-mqLIO5SXWKIpyhA6kHi

We had some fast moving class 1 rapids about 5 miles from our camp. Nothing scary, just kind of a fun challenge. We got to our camp at Fletcher Creek campsite. The landing was narrow with about 5 feet of steep bank to get to the site. I unloaded my boat by tossing my gear up to Jon who would put it in a neat pile for me to organize. As I was tossing my red breakfast bag, I didn’t get enough height on it and it came back to me. Forgetting my precarious footing I tried to catch it and ended up going backwards in to water that very quickly dropped to 4 feet deep. I want all the way under! Well, at least my paddling clothes got a quick washing

After sitting around get bit by mosquitoes, Jon did a quick google search and found a bar and grill 1.5 miles from camp, mostly on forest service roads. The Main Gate bar and grill is just across from the entrance to Fort Ripley army base. We had a nice dinner and beer before walking back to camp. Back at camp building a quick fire to cull beside before turning in. 


Today’s Learnings 
  • Walking to a pub for dinner is way better than sitting around camp getting slowly eaten alive. 
  • Jon is the best paddling partner I could have ever hoped for

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